BGC - Past Members Day

Dene Newton wrote this press release and report about our Past Members Day as part of our 50th Anniversary Celebrations.

GLIDING CLUB CELEBRATES 50th BIRTHDAY

Past and present members of the Balaklava Gliding Club celebrated their 50 years of existence at a special day on Saturday, July 5, when they were guests of the club for a barbecue lunch.

Over 60 members and their families attended the special day and many had flights in the latest sailplanes that are a great advance on the original primary types that were first introduced in 1953.

The original club was formerly called the Clare Soaring Club and was based in the hills overlooking the Adelaide Plains close to the Blyth-Clare road on the Brooks property that is now a tourist site called Brooks Lookout.

In 1956 the club shifted to Everard on the Kirckner property to cater for longer launch strips suitable for winch launching their latest acquisition of a two-seater Kookaburra glider designed and built by the South Australian firm of Schneiders from Parafield.

Due to land lease and water and power availability the club eventually decided to shift to their present site at Whitwarta in 1963 and became the first gliding club in Australia to own their airfield when they purchased 150 acres and this allowed them to erect hangars and clubrooms of a more permanent nature.

Colin McKinnon, of Windsor Gardens, was an original member who is still an active pilot. Hedley Neumann, Dean Underwood and Dene Newton, of Balaklava, started flying at Everard and are still involved in the club.

Brian Underwood, Don Nottle and Kingsley Reynolds all came down from Coober Pedy for the occasion.